Today we change the concept of service delivery by moving government services from the counter only to the computer screen also.
Today we begin E-Government in The Bahamas.
This is a fundamental change that could have tremendous benefits for our country.
Today we live in a world where technology is driving business and service delivery.
E-Government is not new in the world. It has been around for many years. In fact, countries are ranked by the United Nations for their implementation of, and maturity in e-Government. Today, The Bahamas is only ranked 65 out of more than 180 countries. We want to change that.
Our vision for The Bahamas is that investing in the use of technology to deliver public services (education, health, financial, etc.) will catapult our nation forward in the delivery of services to the Bahamian public.
Our vision is that the Government’s substantial progress in implementation of E-Government will serve as a catalyst to drive a new wave of the use of technology in all facets of the Bahamian economy.
Today we launch four eServices on our comprehensive eGovernment platform. These services include:
- Renewal of Driver’s License
- Real Property Tax payments
- Service-wide Customer Service
- Vendor Enquiry
I wish to draw attention to two of these services. First, our Customer Service launch. It was chosen for two reasons.
- To encourage the use of the e-Government Portal by launching a service that has a very broad base of users, and
- Because improved responsiveness to the public is critical to building a more effective Public Service.
Secondly, I wish to draw your attention to the Vendor Enquiry service which will be particularly useful to businesses and independent entrepreneurs who provide goods and services to the Government.
Each approved Vendor will be given a Vendor ID. Using that ID the vendor can enter a system in the Treasury which will inform the vendor of payments disbursed (cheques cut) to his/her business and whether it is in the mail, awaiting collection at the Treasury, etc. This will do away with the constant need for vendors to check and follow up on payments with individual Ministries and Departments.
Within the next few weeks, we will add two additional services to our platform, namely:
- Application for Business Licence; and
- Payment of Business Licence Taxes
When Parliament reconvenes in October, this year, we will introduce amendments to the Road Traffic Act relating to fixed penalties to make such penalties more reasonable and to bring them in line with international standards. Once this is done, we will bring fixed penalty payments online by year’s end.
This will greatly relieve the pressure on our Traffic Courts and provide a convenient means for the payment of road traffic penalties.
Over the next several years we will continue to offer the public scores of additional new services. Our aim in this fiscal year being to add:
- application for new work permits as well as renewals;
- payment of customs duties;
- payment of police character certificates;
- payment of passport applications; and
- payment of post office box rentals.
I invite you, members of the public, to participate in determining the direction we take with this initiative in the months and years ahead. In invite you to provide feedback on how we can improve this programme, what new services we should prioritize; and how we can work together as a country to ensure that this critical investment of $10.2 million advances benefit our people and our nation.
We are deepening and broadening the Government’s efforts to create more of a service culture aided by cutting-edge technology and best practices in the public service. And we are improving the means by which services will be delivered to businesses and the general public.
The Bahamas has spent many years on the journey which that led us to this point in our history. The e-Government vision was conceptualized more than a decade ago when we were in office but it is only now that we have finally arrived at a point where we can present a “single window” and a new face to government services online.
I commend the professionals, Bahamian and international, who have worked to bring us to this place.
I commend the staff of the Ministry of Finance, Ms. June Collie, Director of Information Technology and the staff of the new Department of Technology; the consultant team from Singapore’s IDA International, IBM, the Public Service Transformation Group and other critical vendors and all of the other various information officers and staff members of the various government ministries and departments. Together, with hard work and determination, we are improving The Bahamas, for both present and future generations.
Let’s continue this journey with the aim of making The Bahamas the best place in our region to live, work and do business.
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, The Bahamas e-Government Portal, www.bahamas.gov.bs.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): The Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister
Quelle/Source: Bahama Islands Info, 28.07.2011
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